Best Outdoor Wall Lanterns in 2023

Looking for the best outdoor wall lantern lantern in 2022? This modern take on the classic coach lantern is a style that compliments any porch or patio area around your home, providing effective wide spread illumination. Having looked at the many options on the market, we’ve selected our recommended ones from manufacturer’s we trust, all listed below

The Top Outdoor Modern Wall Lanterns

For convenience check out our shortlist below. After that we’ll go into more detail about everything you need to know when choosing this modern classic exterior wall light.

Considerations When Choosing an Exterior Wall Lantern

Modern outdoor wall lanterns need to be made of high-quality, rust-proof materials so ensure your choice is water resistant and weather proof for use in your deck, porch or patio area. Let’s take a look at the key considerations that will help you choose.

Calvi Outdoor Wall Sconce

The Calvi is an elegant and modern light. Warm, pleasant light is cast with symetry and flow.

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 Style

The best outdoor wall lanterns come in two main styles, classic contemporary or more traditional. You can choose from clean lines or more ornate patterns to suit your style and aesthetic preferences.

Messina 130 Bronze Exterior IP44 Box Wall Light

The Messina 130 Bronze is a gorgeous contemporary fitting with a vintage flare. Beautifully versatile to fit your space.

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Shape

The shape of wall lanterns will help determine the style. Modern versions are rectangles and boxes so look out for designs that really push that aesthetic with elongated simple shapes. The traditional take on design will be anything but simple!

Puzzle LED IP44 Exterior Box Wall Light

A greatly functional, simple yet sophisticated wall lantern with a black finish.

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Size

Not all porch and patio lanterns are the same sizes, there is no standard. As always with lighting choices, the larger the size within reason the better the product will look on it’s own on the wall.

Messina Frosted IP44 Exterior Bronze Wall Light

The Messinna Frosted is a sophisticated wall light providing a pleasent glow from all angles coming through the frosted glass. This makes for a great spread of light throughout your space. Durable and tested made from stainless steel.

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Light Source

The original coach lantern would have used candles, so even the most contemporary variations still centralise the light source where the flame once was. This opens the choice for decorative LED bulbs that look great but will not provide as much light as a standard LED lamp which isn’t as attrative.

Homefield Outdoor Wall Sconce

The Homefield Sconce gives your home a warm ambiance while offering plently of light. Glare Free, simple but durable.

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Glass Type

The glass around the box lantern is usually clear and sometimes has a bevelled edge. There are frosted glass versions that have been designed so to hide the light source within and diffuse the light to provide a more flattering, less shadowy illumination. The opaque glass versions also allow for a brighter source of LED to be used by reducing the glare that would otherwise be too bright when used with clear glass.

Box Lantern 270 Outdoor Wall Light

Beautiful Simple Retro with premium classic finish and clear glass pannels. Dimmable.

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Moisture Protection

Any electrical product located outdoors has to be protected against the ingress of rain. It does not necessarily have to be completely water resistant, but must be designed to a degree that will ensure water does not contact electrical parts and be allowed to drain away quickly.

Look out for ETL and UL Wet Ratings, IP44 and IP65 ratings for EU use.

Corrosion Protection

Outdoor fixtures are exposed to a variety of corrosive elements. This can come in the form of moisture, salt and acid rain as well as dust particles from industrial sources or fires.

Look out for materials like stainless steel, aluminum and bronze that will resist corrosion best. Stainless steel is often used on outdoor porch lights because it does not tarnish easily and will not rust.

Bronze is best used in areas where it won’t come into contact with water and salt because that will tarnish the surface, but if you do have a fixture that does get wet periodically bronze is an excellent choice.

Motion Detection

Presence detection can be achieved through motion sensing, meaning fixtures that are able to detect and turn on automatically when a person passes by. This feature is offered in certain models with by PIR or microwave detection.

Motion detection is best for security purposes because it will immediately activate the light as someone approaches. This can be especially important if you’re installing lights in an area with approaching people traffic that are unable to be seen, such as a long driveway.

Motion detection lights can sometimes be set to turn off after a time frame of your choosing so you won’t have to worry about the light being on all time unnecessarily.

Messina Sensor Exterior Wall Light

The Messina wall light is functional and beautiful with an adjustable PIR motion sensor.

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Andrew Orange, the owner of Orange Lighting qualified and worked as an interior designer in 1993 before specialising in lighting working on high profile projects based in London. Since starting Orange Lighting Ltd in 2003 he has been sharing his knowledge and unique teaching style mostly to his designer clients, offering practical real life advice born from running a busy consultancy and lighting supply business. Launching in 2020, his blog has evolved into Quick & Easy Lighting, curating some 25 years design experience into making the lighting choice and design process achievable and easy to understand for all.